Made of glass
by merlinandfreyaFTW
Summary: Merlin is tired of being treated like he's inferior to Arthur and the knights. Time to prove his friends wrong. Three shot, no slash, just bromance. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Made of glass.**

"Here you go, Merlin," Lancelot said whilst opening the door for the young servant.

"Um-thanks, Lancelot," Merlin replied, looking a little confused.

"No problem," the knight grinned. "Wouldn't want you to break your arm opening that big heavy door, would we now?"

"Erm sure, whatever," Merlin said, walking through the door to the tavern, giving his friend one last uneasy look before making his way over to Gwaine. Why was Lancelot acting so strange?

"Ah, there you are Merlin," said Gwaine, holding up a tankard. "I'll get more drinks for us."

"No, it's fine Gwaine, I'll get them, seeing as I'm already up," offered Merlin.

Gwaine glanced worriedly at the line for drinks, and then turned back to Merlin. "Don't be silly," he laughed. "After all, I would never forgive myself if you got that scrawny neck of yours crushed in the queue."

"Fine," grumbled Merlin, sitting down and folding his arms, annoyed. First Lancelot and now Gwaine. _Next thing you know, it'll be Arthur who's flapping over me like a mother hen! _He thought, and then shook his head at the ridiculousness of that statement. As if! Then he smiled. At least he knew he could always count on _Arthur _to never worry about him.

Five minutes later, his mouth had dropped open in shock. "You _what_?" he spluttered, not quite sure he'd heard right.

"I said," Arthur repeated loudly, "That you should take the rest of the day off. You're looking a little pale."

"That's _it_!" Merlin shouted, much to the amazement of his master. Hadn't Merlin been grumbling just the other day about never getting any time to himself? Apparently not, as his manservant was at this very moment storming out of his room and down the hallway. It looked like he was heading for the tavern. Arthur shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, after declaring that he would never figure out Merlin, and then ran after his manservant.

Meanwhile, Merlin was fuming to himself. Why couldn't they just treat him like the rest of them? Why did he always have to be so bloody _different_? He was a grown man, for God's sake, not a child! If they didn't even think he could open doors for himself, how on earth were they going to react when they found out he was the most powerful sorcerer to ever have lived? They'd probably never look at him the same way again. And that was what worried Merlin. He could not have his friends think him as weak, otherwise they would never accept him for what he truly was. And so, he would have to prove them wrong.

He swung open the doors to the tavern as forcefully as he could. What he said next made people's eyes go as wide as saucers. It caused hand to be brought to people's mouths in shock, and-rumour has it- that some people even _fainted_.

"I challenge Percival to an arm wrestle," He declared.

**A/n Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n You can thank FalafalafaPancakes for this chapter. Kudos to her for giving me a verbal kick up the backside for being lazy and leaving you guys hanging xD I hope you enjoy the chapter! **

As soon as they got over their shock, they burst into laughter at the notion of this skinny boy, in an arm wrestle with a knight, the strongest knight. There were sniggers all around. All except for Gwaine, who pulled Merlin's arm and took him aside.

"Merlin," he whispered, appalled at what his friend had just done, "do you have _any _idea of what you're doing?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I just challenged Percival to an arm wrestle," Merlin said.

"Exactly!" Gwaine's voice grew frantic with worry. "Look, Percival hasn't known you for as long as the rest of us, he doesn't know how easy you get hurt-"

Merlin bristled. "I'm not made of glass, Gwaine," he spoke sharply. "It's time you learned that."

Gwaine looked a little taken aback by how Merlin had spoken to him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Merlin looked…different. Taller than before, maybe? No, that was impossible; he'd only seen him an hour ago. Ah, he knew! Merlin had gotten a haircut!

Merlin's expression softened when he saw Gwaine's wounded look at being spoken to so harshly.

"Sorry Gwaine, but I have to do this. You understand, right?"

Gwaine nodded, and let go of Merlin's arm. Merlin walked away from him to sit on Percival's table, opposite the big knight.

Percival leaned forward. "Are you sure about this, Merlin?" He asked quietly, so only they could hear.

"Definitely," the warlock replied. "Sorry that you got caught up in my need to prove a point, Percival.

"Please, we've known each other for months now, and have fought countless battles together. I think it's time you started calling me Percy," Percival chuckled. "And I'd be happy to help you prove a point Merlin. After all, remember the time you told me that Gwaine had put jelly in my socks? I'm just returning the favour."

"Thanks Perciva-Percy," Merlin corrected himself, smiling.

"Oi! Are you going to fight, or stand around talking like old ladies all day?" shouted a voice from behind Merlin, and he turned to see that quite a crowd-no, the entire _tavern_- had gathered behind them.

"My money's on the scrawny one," Gwaine said loudly, giving Merlin a thumbs up. "Er-no offence, Percy boy."

"None taken, Gwaine," Percival assured him. "Let's get started."


	3. Chapter 3

_They weren't lying when they said Percival was strong,_ thought Merlin, grunting with effort. It was true, Percival was strong, but he could see the beads of sweat racing down the knight's face, and he could feel it on his hand, which was almost twice as big as his.

It was actually pretty comic how nobody could actually see Merlin's hand as it was covered with Percival's. It looked like the knight was having a seizure of sorts, instead of an arm wrestle. But nobody laughed. In fact, they were waiting with bated breath, with the bets on who would win getting higher and higher as they watched this battle of Percival's pure strength against Merlin's sheer determination to prove that he was just like the rest of them. And no one knew who would win.

Merlin gasped as his hand hit the wooden table. Had it been any other servant, there would have been cheers, and drink raised for the knight who had put the servant in his place. But it wasn't any other servant. It was Merlin. The man who had stood up to Arthur on his first day in Camelot, and from that day on had fought by his side. And they had all thought him weak, someone who needes his knight friends to take care of him. Well, they wouldn't be thinking that again anytime soon.

And because it was Merlin, he didn't hang his head in shame as all the other servants would have. Instead, he stood up with an almost satisfied expression on his face. Satisfied with _losing_. Only Merlin. Then he strode across the tavern with his head held high, and went outside to where the King of Camelot was waiting for him. Watching them walk back to the castle side by side, the King and the servant, they were all deadly silent. Even Gwaine!

Merlin lost, but from that day on the knights-and everyone else-never looked at him the same way again.

And when the time came for his magic to be revealed, they all stood by him, the servant and sorcerer who dared to challenge what was wrong, and were proud to call him their friend.


End file.
